Im looking at getting into kayaking fishing in early spring and would mainly be hanging around the otago harbor however will most likely head offshore once the confidence in a yak picks up.
Ive been looking around at second hand kayaks etc but have found that the Blue Mako F40 profish seems almost half the price brand new then other branded kayaks whilst still retaining most of the same features. In particular the Cobra Marauder seems fairly similar but is atleast double the price?
Am I missing something here?
Please help me out in suggestions and help a young lad get into the kayak fishing scene!
Cheers

Blue MaKo F43 Sportfish Ocean Fishing Kayak" Has anybody noticed that this is a pretty close copy of the OK 4.3 kayak but at less than half price. How can anybody compete? I have seen it and can honestly say not much wrong with it since they also used UV proof PE plastic. Unfortunately for them they have also copied the useless "Flip Lid".

We went with Blue Mako for the same reason, great entry level kayak etc....stable good kayak but very slow to paddle, plus its not ideally set up like the Viking with options for rod holders, tackle pod and all the rest. Wish 0we had gone straight to the Viking. Now we have the long road of saving for the better option, should have just gone down that road in the first place. Just my 2 cents worth.

Raw polyethylene is affected by UV relatively rapidly. It gains minor protection from some types of colour pigments, but needs the addition of UV stabilisers to be suitable for outdoor use. Like sunscreens there are a multitude of grades (SPF factors if you like). I've had the opportunity to work with many imported kayaks over the years, all claiming to have "UV inhibitors", "UV protection", or to be "UV stable" etc. While technically correct there's no indication of just how much protection is present, and some of these kayaks have looked much like I do after applying SPF8 sunscreen and falling asleep on a sunny NZ beach - rather burnt and sun struck!

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any conventions that specifically report the level of UV protection in PE kayaks. This means you need to treat any UV protection claims with caution. When assessing longevity I believe it critical to look at the manufacturers warranty and pay attention to any sun/UV exclusions.

To the best of my knowledge all the NZ manufactured kayaks including Viking, Ocean Kayak, Phoenix, Mission, QK, and Cobra use resins containing the highest possible UV protection.